The Other Man's Princess
by ImpracticalDemon
Summary: Kenshin chooses not to kill Date Masamune when the enemy warlord is saved from imminent disaster by the unexpected arrival of the rumoured Oda princess. The princess' willingness to protect Date at all costs–-and the fact that his enemy is obviously fighting injured–-ruins the whole thing for Kenshin. But what if somebody else wants to save Kenshin?


**Author's Note:** This story was written for **acrispyapple** on tumblr. It started with a simple premise that I'd wanted to explore (Kenshin's reaction to Masamune's MC showing up on the battlefield to protect Masamune), but ended up longer than expected. The story also introduces the idea of a third time-traveller, who ended up in the Sengoku unknown to Sasuke, and several months before MC.

* * *

**The Other Man's Princess**

Anna had known it would be a difficult battle. She might not have the years of experience of the men and women around her, but she was observant, and it hadn't taken her long to learn to read the signs. At first, she'd only been able to gauge a situation by looking at the local inhabitants as a whole: were the men cocky, serious, or grim? were the women resigned, tight-lipped, or overtly anxious? After almost a year in the Sengoku—and a hard, dangerous year it had been, until recently—she was much better at understanding the nuances of war, and she noticed more subtle tells, such as increases in the price of food, and fewer merchants in the marketplace.

Sasuke arrived back at the castle first, as he usually did, to bring news to the reserve commander, Kurata, and to her. She'd noticed he was troubled almost immediately, even though his first message was that Kenshin was safe, and that the troops were withdrawing in good order. Apparently, the Oda had been able to bring up their reinforcements faster than expected, which meant abandoning the conflict for another day, when the Uesugi-Takeda forces had grown stronger.

"It was pretty bad out there," Sasuke told her confidentially, once he'd given his formal report. "I'm glad Yukimura decided to retreat. Lord Kenshin was—well, he was as unstoppable as ever—but the joint Date-Tokugawa cavalry had already targeted him once, and they would have gone after him again once the rest of the Oda forces arrived." His gaze became unfocussed for a moment, and he sighed. "I would never say this to my employer—or to Yukimura—but it was pretty amazing seeing Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the battlefield together, near the height of their powers."

Normally, Anna would have smiled knowingly at his absurd-but-genuine adoration of the Sengoku superstars, but she could tell that he was worried about Kenshin, and that made her impatient. She waved a hand in front of Sasuke's face.

"Hey—ninja boy!" She raised both eyebrows, and gave him a very direct, 'stop-stalling' look. "I know you have to get back there—you always do—so you might as well tell me what you _didn't_ tell Lord Kurata."

His eyes slid sideways for a moment, as they usually did when he was thinking, or embarrassed, or both, but they returned shortly to meet hers. Sasuke's expression rarely changed much, but she'd learned to tell the difference between excited-stoic and worried-stoic. This was definitely the latter.

"At some point during the battle, Lord Kenshin took off on his own, as he does, and he and Date Masamune ended up in a one-on-one duel—which is actually very rare, despite what you see in movies and stage plays." He paused, caught Anna's expression, and hurried on. "Anyway, I missed what led up to it, but I was in time to see the conclusion."

"You were hurrying to Kenshin's side to protect him, of course. I'm sure it wasn't just an opportunity to see two of the great swordsmen of the era in personal combat." Mentally, she face-palmed—hadn't she just told Sasuke to skip the fanboy stuff? It had to be nerves.

"…There may have been an element of extreme personal excitement—after all, Uesugi Kenshin and Date Masamune never met like that in our timeline."

"Sure—go on."

"Just as I was approaching, Lord Kenshin disarmed Lord Masamune, who appeared to be injured. It looked like Lord Kenshin was going to kill Lord Masamune, but then an Oda soldier suddenly jumped out of the grass waving a rifle, and distracted Lord Kenshin by yelling at him to stop. As you probably know, Lord Kenshin isn't easy to distract when he's fighting—or not for very long. But this time he stopped cold, because the voice was clearly a woman's."

"A woman? Nobody ever lets _me_ go off to Kenshin's battles—not that I want to be _in_ them."

They exchanged a look. Sasuke shrugged semi-apologetically; Anna shrugged in acceptance. Kenshin would never want her anywhere near such a battle, and she knew enough, after two months of getting closer to him, not to push him too far when it came to her safety. He was a wonderful, caring, fascinating—_devastatingly beautiful_—man, but he had wounds that she was still figuring out how to heal. Patience and steadfastness were what he needed, and once she'd decided he was worth it—very early on, in fact—she'd thrown herself into the joy and the trials of being there for him.

* * *

She'd originally met Kenshin in a town about a day's ride from Kasugayama. He'd rescued her from two brutish _ronin_ who were intent on dragging her off as punishment for standing up to them on behalf of an elderly shopkeeper. Kenshin had refused her thanks, but although he'd seemed cold—even rude—there'd been a quality about him, beyond his obvious beauty, that had drawn her in. When he'd saved her from the same two men just a few days later, he'd criticized her survival skills, but he'd calmly walked her home, and he'd slowed his pace to hers. More than that, he'd told her to be herself with the people around her, something she'd somehow forgotten how to do since being dumped into the Sengoku three months before. It had been exactly the advice she'd needed, and she'd been grateful.

Not long after, she'd met Sasuke, who'd been shocked to discover another "future person" so close by. He'd offered to bring her to Kasugayama, where it was safer and more comfortable, and she'd had little reason to refuse, and at least one good reason to accept. In fact, she hadn't been altogether surprised to discover that Kenshin had arranged for Sasuke to check up on her in the first place. Moreover, Kenshin hadn't seemed to mind Sasuke's seemingly abrupt decision to bring her to the castle, despite his reputation as a woman-hater. She and Kenshin had spoken often since then, although Kenshin always came up with specific reasons for seeking her out, much to the amusement of his ally Takeda Shingen.

* * *

"…Yes, it was definitely a woman, based on the voice and hair. She was pretty well disguised by her armour, but"—Sasuke stopped and held out a hand, as if to say, _I'm so sorry, please don't kill me_—"she was awfully _short_ for a samurai."

He looked at her hopefully. It took her a long moment to catch the reference, but then she groaned.

"_Star Wars_, Sasuke? Really? And that's a _really_ obscure reference. You're lucky my undergrad was science, honestly."

"The original Star Wars movies are a key part of geek culture, sorry. I guess she kind of reminded me of Princess Leia. Though I suppose a Lord of the Rings reference would be more appropriate—you know, 'I am no man!' and all that."

"Sasuke—"

"Lord Kenshin just stared at the woman, totally ignoring Date Masamune. But _she_—well, she tried to shoot him."

"But—you said he was fine! Or did she miss? I'm impressed she could shoot one of those old matchlocks, actually." _And I am _not_ feeling competitive. At all._

"Lord Masamune rushed in and somehow managed to deflect the shot—actually knocked the barrel of the rifle up. He's fast."

"I don't understand. Why would he protect his enemy? Was it some kind of dumb chauvinist thing? You know—'can't let a woman kill my enemy for me'?"

Sasuke gave her an odd look. "Well…" he said slowly, as though feeling out his words, "you know how I said there's a person like us living in Azuchi?"

"Yes… You mean it was _her_?! And she tried to protect Date Masamune by shooting Kenshin?!"

Sasuke looked as unemotional as usual, but she was pretty sure it was a façade.

"It was an interesting event from a time-travel, or alternate universe, perspective. A person who shouldn't be there tries to kill a man who should already be dead—er, sorry if that was tactless." Sasuke blinked apologetically, but added, "And she does it for the sake of a man who died five hundred years before she was born. You can imagine how I felt."

"No. No, I really don't think I can. What happened next?"

"I think Lord Kenshin was… very disturbed… by the fact that there was a woman there in front of him, clearly prepared to kill, and also, well…"

"Prepared to die?"

"Yes."

All at once, Anna could imagine how the strange scenario must have affected Kenshin, and it suddenly became far more important to see him—to reassure him—than to hear all the details. Especially with Sasuke's _unique_ editorial commentary. No matter how bizarre it was that another time-traveller had tried to kill the man Anna loved, during a battle that had never taken place in Anna's—or the other woman's—own history, the important thing was that Kenshin was probably hurting.

"Okay, just give me the gist of the rest, Sasuke."

"Lord Masamune said he was ready to keep fighting, but Lord Kenshin put his sword away and walked off. He said the fight wasn't fun anymore, so he was letting them go. I didn't want to make things more tense, so I didn't intrude. Not that I left him alone, of course. I made sure somebody brought him a horse. But… he had that smile."

"So Kenshin's on his way home right now?"

"Yes. This all happened yesterday. I left mid-afternoon to report back here. I thought… I thought you might want to know about it ahead of time."

"Yes, good—thank you, Sasuke." It came out sounding abrupt, so she tried again. "I mean it: thank you. You're a good friend, and an amazing ninja."

"Yeah, that's me. Your friendly neighbourhood spider-ninja."

The words sounded oddly lonely, instead of cheerful, but she let it go. She had reviewed her options, and made her decision. "I'm going with you, Sasuke. Don't bother to argue."

"…He's not hurt, Anna. I promise, if he needed medical help, I'd have told you." Anna had medical training, and had been working hard to learn Sengoku-era medicine—although it consisted mostly of inefficient herb-lore, last-ditch surgery, and opium, from what she could see. At least Japanese doctors believed in cleanliness, unlike their European counterparts of the same century. And to be fair, a good doctor could diagnose and treat wounds, and set bones, and alleviate the effects of certain illnesses.

"I think he _is_ hurt, and I think you know it." She fixed him with what she hoped was a compelling stare. "Now wait for me right here—or better yet, find me a good horse. It will take me less than ten minutes to change and grab my bag. Got it?"

* * *

"You shouldn't be here." Kenshin's voice was flat, and Anna winced a little at his tone.

She'd known—based on Sasuke's story—that he'd probably be struggling, emotionally, but it was hard not to react when it felt as though he'd suddenly decided to ignore how close they'd become over many weeks of conversations, quiet evenings out on the _engawa,_ and even occasional disagreements. He refused to admit it, but he was extremely protective, and they'd had to sort out some framework they could both live with, where he knew she was safe, and she didn't feel stifled. That was a work in progress, obviously.

"I was worried about you," she told him, letting her sincerity speak for itself. "I wanted to be beside you, so that I could see for myself that you weren't hurt."

"Why didn't you stay where you were safe? I've told you how dangerous it is to travel right now. You should have listened to me."

She could tell he couldn't hear her—not properly—and instead of frustrating her, that settled her resolve to be patient and gentle. Once she'd set aside her hurt at her chilly reception, she'd seen the expression—the fractured look—that hovered behind Kenshin's cool stare and irritated, dismissive words.

"As I told you, Sasuke was with me the whole time, Kenshin-sama. And I am always safest with you, wherever that is."

Kenshin's beautiful, mismatched eyes narrowed slightly, but they stopped moving restlessly around the room, and focussed on her face. That was better.

"I—that's not the point. You should have waited for me."

"I'm sorry I couldn't wait. I wanted to see you. You're important to me." Anna stretched out a hand to him, and Kenshin automatically took it, then looked almost comically surprised by his action.

They were kneeling facing each other in Kenshin's tent. Anna had dissuaded Sasuke from going in with her when they'd arrived, regardless of military protocol, and in spite of Sasuke's evident determination to bear the brunt of Kenshin's wrath. After a certain amount of argument, Sasuke had admitted that it would be pleasant not to face a sword at his throat the moment Kenshin took in Anna's presence. Consequently, she and Kenshin were alone, which was for the best. Alone in the immediate sense, at least—there were thousands of soldiers in the camp around them.

Kenshin cleared his throat. She knew that he wanted to keep making his points about her safety, and about following orders, but he felt constrained by their joined hands, and by the comfort he took from her touch—something that he'd told her once, after enough _sake_ to poison the ordinary man.

"…I suppose you're here now. And at least you came straight to me, and are unharmed." His gaze softened a little, but Anna didn't relax her guard. He was no longer cold, or frowning, but his smile remained disquieting. "You know… If I can't be sure that you'll stay in the castle while I'm away, I may need to take better precautions to keep you safe."

"I already feel safe," Anna said immediately, working hard to keep her tone light, but firm.

"You aren't always careful enough, Anna." Kenshin suddenly extended his free hand to caress her cheek and jaw, catching her off-guard. Although he had once rested his head on her lap, and they often held hands lately—by strictly unspoken accord—this touch was new, and more deliberately intimate. It was also undeniably possessive.

"I appreciate your concern, Kenshin-sama," Anna responded, as calmly as she could. She did her best to focus on the tricky situation with Kenshin's emotions, rather than the rush of warmth that flowed outward from his hand. "However—"

"I sometimes wonder if I should lock you in your quarters, for your own protection. You can be reckless." Both tone and expression were bright and brittle.

Anna managed not to react to the threatening words; she'd known that it was a risk to come out to meet him. Instead of pulling away, she resolutely set aside her fear of being locked up in favour of conveying how much she appreciated his touch. She covered Kenshin's hand on her cheek with her own, and turned her face further into his palm.

"I know that it's important for me to be careful," she told him, "most of all when I'm not with you."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed, but after a moment of surprise—it obviously wasn't the reaction he'd expected—sharpness gave way to interest, and a hint of amusement. His fingers on her face gentled and then stilled.

"Are you trying to persuade me that your journey here was undertaken with safety in mind? Because you are safer with me?" He stroked her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb, and she wished she could just relax and enjoy being—somehow—important to this very special man.

"I wouldn't go that far…"

"No?" Kenshin leaned forward, so that their faces were almost touching. The humour had vanished from his two-coloured gaze. "That's good… But you won't promise to stay put. And a woman doesn't belong on the battlefield." His grip on her hand and face tightened again. "How can I make you understand?"

"I understand, Kenshin-sama." She might not appreciate—or agree with—his declaration, but she also knew better than to take it at face value. Kenshin was trying to use a simple, obvious (to him) statement to express a complex fear. "I know you don't want me to go onto a battlefield, and I agree that it would be too risky." _For now, anyway_, she added silently to herself. Sometimes it was hard to wait patiently, not knowing how things were going, wondering if she could be helpful.

"You say you understand, but—"

Anna could almost see the struggle going on behind his ice-sculpture features. He knew, rationally, that she hadn't been the woman on the battlefield when he was fighting Lord Masamune. But the sight of _a_ woman in mortal danger had clearly opened old wounds. It made her sad to see him so obviously afraid, even when he expressed it as concern for her safety. He was fearless by nature, and immensely strong, but that just made it worse for him.

"I have never ventured onto a battlefield," she assured him. More slowly, she added: "And—I won't. Not unless you agree to it first." She'd given it a lot of thought during the ride to the camp. It had been a struggle from the beginning to balance her modern views on freedom with the realities of life in feudal Japan. But she'd decided this was a choice she could give up, for Kenshin's sake.

"Well, I don't agree to it. And I won't." Kenshin's words were forceful. She would have been irritated, if she didn't understand him as well as she did now. "It would be foolish and pointless. I won't allow you to put yourself in such danger."

"I will accept your decision."

"You have to." He was torn between asserting his authority—the man was akin to a divine prince to his clan, after all—and seeking reassurance. Not that he was one to invoke his rank, or power, explicitly. It was just part of who he was. Anna sometimes challenged that assumption of authority, as it applied to her, but she understood it.

"I mean it, Kenshin-sama. I will not follow you onto a battlefield without your knowledge and agreement." She couldn't quite bring herself to say _permission_. "You don't have to force me to obey you. This is important to you, so I'll let you decide."

"Anna…"

"Yes?"

He remained silent, unable, or unwilling, to voice his thoughts. After a time, he seemed to reach a decision that satisfied him, and he smiled.

"I will take you home."

"You'll take me back to Kasugayama? I mean—now?" It was getting late; the sun had disappeared over an hour ago.

"It will be fine. I know the road well, and I can be back here well before dawn."

"But…" This time it was Anna who was at a loss for words.

Kenshin withdrew his hands, although he paused to stroke her hair in a reassuring manner. Anna felt her heart thump almost painfully in her chest, and for just a moment she forgot how to breathe. Which was ridiculous! He affected her like this, more and more as time went on, but she could never decide what part of the attraction was his physical beauty, and what part was everything else—his integrity, his (constantly denied) kindness, his strange combination of strength and fragility. Or maybe she'd been truly lost when she'd come to believe that he needed her?

"We'll just take one horse, to avoid being separated, or attacked." The brisk, almost enthusiastic, statement brought her sharply back to earth.

"But, why do we have to go at all? You must be tired…" Not that he ever seemed tired after even the most gruelling battles. This time, though, she saw traces of strain.

"We're not far from the castle, by horse. It's much slower for the infantry, of course." Kenshin regarded her intently, frowning a little. "Or are you tired after riding here? You can rest, and have tea, while I hear Sasuke's report." His expression changed when he mentioned Sasuke, and Anna suspected there would be swords involved. 'To be expected,' Sasuke had told her.

"Kenshin-sama. Isn't there room for me in the camp? I thought it would be pleasant for you—for us—to see each other, even if you didn't have much time to spare."

Of course, she didn't say that she had needed to make sure for herself that he was coping all right with his strange encounter with The Other Woman—the other time-traveller—_who isn't The Other Woman in any way, why did I even think that? Ugh!_ It was annoying to realize that there had been a twinge of jealousy in her sentiments toward a woman who might even be a friend, if they could ever meet. _Or maybe I'm just worried that it isn't me who's special, and any woman from the future would be new and interesting?_

"It's better to return to the castle." Now his tone was flat, and that caught her immediate attention. "I"—uncharacteristically, he seemed to change what he was going to say—"appreciate your effort in coming here." Even though they weren't touching, she could sense tension return to his body as fairness warred with instinct. "It wasn't wise of you, but you were anxious. Women are emotional."

_As if you aren't!_ Amazingly, she managed to keep that to herself. It was worth being patient if she could help. Kenshin had come to terms with her arrival relatively quickly, had even seemed reassured to have her near—for a short while. But now he wanted her back in the castle, and it might be more sensible to give in. Hopefully, he wasn't serious about locking her up.

"If we're going to go back, then I'd rather leave sooner than later." Certain parts of her body wanted to protest the whole idea of getting back into the saddle, but she was starting to catch Kenshin's restlessness. Or maybe they both wanted to be away from others for a while?

Kenshin nodded, relaxing, but he scrutinized her closely before rising to leave the tent. When Anna moved to follow him, he waved her back.

"You might as well rest a little. I have to talk to Sasuke either way, and it may take me some time to get away."

"But I thought—"

"I won't go far"—Anna was quite sure he wouldn't—"so don't worry. Get some rest."

He spoke brusquely, and left the tent without looking back, but Anna was only briefly discomposed. She guessed that Kenshin had noticed her fatigue from the earlier ride, and was giving her an excuse to recover before starting back. Of course, he'd made it impossible to refuse.

* * *

They left an hour later. Sasuke saw them off, his face even more unreadable than usual in the gloom. He appeared to be uninjured. The moon was still low in the late summer sky, but approaching full; its light dimly illuminated the path they'd be taking through a rippling series of hills and valleys. There wasn't much flat land in Japan, once you were away from the sea.

Kenshin had insisted that Anna ride with him for safety's sake, but she hadn't needed convincing. The rest had helped, but while Kenshin knew every part of this route, and rode as easily as he walked, she had no such knowledge, or skill. Privately, she thought that the danger of falling off her horse, or guiding it into a hole, far exceeded the chance of being attacked. She couldn't imagine any bandits stupid enough to prey on the roads this close to Kasugayama. Besides, she'd come to be with Kenshin, so why wouldn't she ride with him?

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yes, thank you, Kenshin-sama."

It wasn't quite true, since she'd become unexpectedly self-conscious from the moment he'd lifted her into the saddle and seated himself behind her. His arms were warm around hers, and it was impossible not to be fully aware of his—_taut, lean, muscled_—body against her back. They both wore thin summer clothing, and despite Anna's light haori, worn in deference to the damp night air, she felt as though they were practically skin-to-skin. She was glad she was facing mostly away from Kenshin.

"Do you always ride so stiffly? No wonder you were tired. Didn't Sasuke teach you to ride?"

"Oh! No… I mean, yes, maybe that was it."

Kenshin shifted, transferring the reins to one hand, and tightening his other arm around her. She tensed, and then gave up and settled back against his chest. How could she resist? She wondered if her heart-beat was as loud to Kenshin as it seemed to her. Probably not. Right?

"Are you sure you're all right? You seem alarmed. There's nothing to fear while you're with me, and we have no need for haste, so I won't push the horse."

Or maybe he had super-human powers of observation, when he wasn't focussed on other things. Looking down, she realized that his hand was wrapped carefully around hers, and his thumb was pressed to her racing pulse. Of course. So he _had _noticed her pounding heart-rate. While riding a battle-trained horse through the near-dark on a winding, hilly trail.

"I'm not alarmed. I'm not afraid of being attacked, I'm not afraid of falling off, and I'm not afraid that you'll go too fast. You pretend it's not true, but you are very considerate of me."

He was loosening up as he rode, she could tell. She, on the other hand, was struggling to keep her cool. Kenshin's voice carried warm breath past her ear with each word, and it was yet another distraction to add to all the other pleasant-but-possibly-inappropriate distractions happening right now. She wondered, again, what he really thought of her.

"Is it considerate to make you ride through the night with me after you have just endured the same ride in the opposite direction?"

"Mm, okay, I'm not sure on that one, but if you'll tell me _why_, then I can answer your question."

"You can be very stubborn."

"So can you."

"…I've heard that before. I wish you wouldn't quote Shingen at me. It's annoying."

He was 'annoyed' enough to tighten his grip on her, but it felt a lot more like a hug than anything bad. Anna realized that she'd be very okay with hugging him back, if they weren't on horseback, on a difficult trail, in the middle of the night. Inadvertently, she sighed.

"What is it, Anna?"

"Nothing."

"Ah." His breath tickled her ear again, and then—and then—he softly kissed her temple.

"Kenshin!" Did she really squeak like a fangirl just there? Yes, yes, she did. Damn.

"Sasuke told you about the woman—Date's woman—didn't he?"

"Um—yes?" _Context? Hello? Did you just move from kissing me to asking whether I knew about the other woman—no, the other time-traveller who just happened to be a woman?_ She was curious, irritated, and a little 'glowy' all at once.

"And that's why you came to see me?"

"Yes… I suppose that's true. I was worried."

"There was no need to worry about me. Sasuke sometimes—frequently—oversteps his bounds."

"I worry about you, Kenshin-sama. I care about what happens to you, and I think about what you're doing. I wonder if you are all right."

"I didn't want you anywhere near the battlefield. Or in an armed camp full of men. Sasuke shouldn't have brought you."

_Okay, now what? _

"Is that the answer to why we're riding through the night like this when you should be back at camp overseeing your army?"

"There were a lot of wounded. Oda Nobunaga—and in this case, Date Masamune and Tokugawa Ieyasu—is a worthy opponent."

She wanted to point out that he'd just changed the subject again, but over their time together she'd become adept at following his thoughts. It took an agile mind, and a certain intuition, but she could do it. Sometimes, she made him spell it out anyway, but it was so comfortable being with him like this that her inclination to push back was waning rapidly.

"You didn't want me to insist on tending the wounded?"

"I didn't want you wandering camp—it would be dangerous and inappropriate."

_Inappropriate?_ She wasn't sure whether he meant that she might see, or hear, inappropriate things, or whether he was just being weirdly jealous. Come to think of it, he could mean both.

"I don't think I would be in any danger in your camp, with you nearby," she said, seriously. "But I travelled to the camp for the sole purpose of seeing you, and even if I didn't like it, I would follow your instructions while at the camp."

"She saved Date's life, you know. I probably would have killed him before Tokugawa could get to him. Though he showed surprising stamina for a man who I suspect was badly wounded." Kenshin's assessment was ungrudging—he admired courage and strength in friend and foe alike. "I look forward to a proper fight in the future."

"Setting aside your quest for a suitable opponent…" Anna leaned her head back more securely against Kenshin's chest, and suppressed a sigh of contentment. "You know that I'd do a lot to save _your_ life, right?"

Kenshin immediately tensed. "You promised—"

"But you have my word that I won't chase you onto a battlefield."

"Good. I don't need you to. You're a very strange woman—I shouldn't have to make you promise not to subject yourself to… all that."

"In exchange—"

"You're trying to bargain with me?"

"I'm hoping you'll hear me out." She took the silence that followed as assent, if not happy assent. "I want you to promise you'll live."

"You what? That's—" He stopped abruptly.

"I'm very sorry if I've upset you, Kenshin-sama." She hadn't wanted to. She'd much rather have ridden on without conflict. "But I care about what happens to you. It will make it easier for me to stay away from battles, or war camps, or whatever, if I know that you are doing your utmost to come back safe and sound."

"You don't need to worry. Nothing ever touches me."

"Kenshin-sama… I trust _you_. So if _you_ tell me that you will do your utmost to live, then I will believe it." She'd try, anyway. But it would help a lot if she knew he cared enough to come back. She'd heard the whispers that he couldn't be touched, couldn't be killed, because he was the so-called God of War. It just made her more worried, since she'd already noticed a certain sad fatalism in Kenshin.

They rode in silence for several long minutes after that. Kenshin's grip on her slowly relaxed, but remained strong enough to be reassuring. She found she had to keep pressing her lips together not to add to what she'd said—whether to cajole, or entreat, or just argue. Eventually, she heard Kenshin sigh, but gently, like a release of pent-up breath. He drew the horse to a careful stop, allowed the reins to loop over the pommel of the saddle, and wrapped both arms around Anna.

"I told Date Masamune that dying for love was the worst kind of foolishness. And it was both of them! She risked everything to be there—she'd already interposed herself between us once, earlier in the fight, although neither of us knew it. But Date was worse. He was losing, he'd just dropped his sword, and he still had the nerve to knock away his woman's killing shot."

"Bravado?" She'd suggested that before, but Kenshin hadn't answered her. Right now she cared more about Kenshin talking to her, and holding her, than anything else, but she was still a little curious.

"No, worse. He didn't want her to have to kill. He didn't want it to change her. I didn't hear all of it, but that was the gist."

"I think that's—" Anna stopped on the edge of saying that she thought it was very sweet. More than just sweet, it showed true caring and protectiveness.

"It was ridiculous. He endangered both of them by not letting her shoot. I had to let them go after that."

"Of course you did." Because he was a good man, and had too much integrity to pursue a fight under such circumstances. And probably because seeing the woman there shocked him. But either way, it was just like him to refrain from mindless killing, despite leaving an enemy commander alive.

"I wasn't being kind. They took all the enjoyment out of the fight—both of them. …And I'd heard Date was a ruthless adversary, the kind of man who didn't let sentiment come in the way of his duty!"

He sounded peeved, Anna thought. She had to smile. She hid her face so that he couldn't accuse her to laughing at him. Then she felt a kiss on her hair—the first of several. Her body temperature seemed to rise with each kiss, and the way his hands were stroking her back. She didn't protest when Kenshin finally lifted her face up to his and pressed his lips to hers. A hand slid into her hair, and their kiss deepened, becoming more passionate.

When it finally ended, they were both short of breath. Anna wondered if she looked as startled and—happy?—as Kenshin. _Probably worse_, she decided.

"You'll stay safe?" He spoke almost too softly to hear.

"I'll do everything I can to stay safe. How about you?" The moonlight turned his hair and eyes to silver; he looked almost otherworldly.

"I'll—You know I'll need to go on fighting?"

"Yes." She wouldn't debate the need, or whether it was personal, or duty.

"Yet you still want me to stay safe?"

"I want you to promise to keep yourself alive."

"I can do that."

"Then I will promise to stay as safe as possible, and to stay alive, for you."

"Anna, you are—"

"Very strange?"

To her surprise, he laughed—she wasn't sure she'd heard him laugh before.

"I was going to say stubborn. And hard to resist." He stopped laughing, and bent to kiss her just below the ear, in a way that made her gasp. "Also, right now, I want you all for myself." He kissed her jaw, and the corner of her mouth.

Anna hummed her agreement. That wasn't a problem: she wanted Kenshin all to herself, as well. Really, this moonlight ride made perfect sense, now that she thought about it. She'd just have to count on Kenshin to keep her from falling off the horse.

**[END]**


End file.
